The Simply Taralynn Whole30 Challenge will officially start on Monday, September 23rd, and I’m so excited! And if you’re coming here late, or already started weeks ago, no worries! I’d love to keep up with your Whole30 journey! We don’t all have to be on the same day to support one another. Sometimes, it’s nice to take advice from someone who is weeks ahead of you. There were many times; I’d flip through blogs looking for support from people who have already completed a Whole30 round.
This Whole30 round is going to be a super casual challenge, and I hope it motivates you to stay on track. I will be sharing my Whole30 meals at the end of each day with the hashtag #STWhole30Challenge If you plan on posting your meals or Whole30 thoughts at the end of the day, make sure to tag me @taralynnmcnitt and use the hashtag #STWhole30Challenge. That hashtag will help you find other people who are also doing the Whole30, and you may be able to find inspiration or support through them! I will also be sharing your posts too! 💜 I want to see your grocery hauls, your recipes, and get inspired by YOU!
To prepare, use this weekend to plan out meals, grocery shop, research Whole30 approved products, recipes, restaurant-friendly orders, and more! I sometimes like to watch YouTube videos on the Whole30 because they motivate me. If you’d like me to do weekly YouTube videos from this round, let me know in the comments. Make sure you’re also following the @simplytaralynnfitchallenge Instagram page because I will be sharing extra recipes and workouts on the stories/feed over there! I will be meal prepping and doing a grocery shopping haul on Sunday night, and a new video will be posted next week to help you get a better understanding as to how I prepare my meals for the week.
Before you read further, please take the time to read my first post about what the Whole30 diet is, why I did it, and how my first round went. I think many people believe this to be a weight loss diet, but it’s not at all.
So why am I doing another round? That’s a great question!
Since stopping the Whole30, I started getting really bad headaches, I had a horrible time falling asleep at night, and my energy has been ehhh. I would love to go back through another round and never introduce sugar back into my diet. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m almost positive it’s the added sugar causing my headaches and poor sleep. Sugar is in literally EVERYTHING, so it’s not like I’m eating sweet foods, but it’s the small amounts added to things like ketchup, breakfast sausage, granola, etc. that is getting to me.
I also had so many people messaging game about doing another round with them for support, and that made me excited. I love supporting people through challenges, and it motivates me to stick to my own goals. When I took the question over to Instagram yesterday, I had about 100 people respond with a huge “YES” about doing a challenge, so I knew I needed to do one! I’m choosing to do the Whole30 right now because it’ll be a slower period in my life. As soon as I’m done with this round, things will start to pick up and get a little crazy over here! Even if you cannot start on the same day as I am, jump in when you can! Even if I’m on day 15 already when you’re reading this, jump in and join! I’m here to support you no matter what day you’re on.
I will be sharing my day by day blog post next week that’ll include all the foods I ate during my first round of Whole30. I also blogged about how I was feeling each day, which seemed to help me stick to the plan. I also loved reading day by day timelines from other people who completed the Whole30 Challenge.
I think what helped me stick to Whole30 the most was sticking to the same meals most of the time. It made grocery shopping easier, and I put little thought into meals. I always had my ingredients in the fridge, and when I was hungry, I would make my go-to.
Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with fresh fruit:
1 egg, 1/3 cup egg whites, 1/2 bell pepper, 1/4 red onion, 5 cherry tomatoes, 3 cups spinach, 1/3 cup chopped sweet potatoes, and fresh fruit on the side. My fruit usually consisted of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
Lunch:
Sometimes I’d make a large salad with Tessemae’s habanero ranch dressing, cucumbers, air-fried salmon, tomatoes, onion, and everything but the bagel seasoning on top. I also loved making tuna salad with Whole30 approved mayo to go on top of my salads.
Afternoon Snack:
I always look forward to an afternoon snack even though snacks are not encouraged on Whole30. I usually have an apple with almond butter or a handful of cashews with a date. Now and then I’ll make an almond milk cappuccino if I feel like I need an extra push to get me through the day.
Dinner:
I almost always made my air-fried turkey burgers with air-fried vegetables, spaghetti squash, and turkey, or seafood with sweet potato french fries. I looked forward to my dinner because I fell in love with the air-fried vegetables with habanero ranch drizzled on top.
I will say that the air-fryer made Whole30 so much easier!
Let’s talk about dessert…
This is another Whole30 discouragement. I love dessert, and it’s something I don’t want to give up. Often days on the Whole30, I never felt the need for it, but if I wanted it, I’d usually make my Whole30 Compliant 3-ingredient brownies or chocolate date balls.
While we’re at it, let’s talk about smoothies…
I think if you’re blending up water, spinach, frozen peaches, and calling it a smoothie, then there is NOTHING wrong with that. I still like to have something cold after being outside in the heat, so I still drink my smoothies. I just make sure they are Whole30 compliant, minimal ingredients, and without any added protein powder. My smoothies usually have 10 cups of spinach (YES TEN), a frozen banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, ice, and 1 cup of water. That’s a super healthy and light drink that I LOVE adding to my lifestyle, so I’ll always continue to have them. So if you see a smoothie in my blogs, yes I know they are not suggested, but since they are made with whole30 compliant ingredients and have so many added health benefits, I do not mind.
This grocery list is mainly for the basics. If I planned on making a particular recipe (which I hardly did), then I’d have to make a trip to the grocery store. But, I ate the same thing almost every day Monday-Friday and then switched it up on the weekends. This time around, I’d love to make more soups since Fall is coming!
Some of my favorite fun snacks to have if I needed while I was traveling or out and about…
The New Primal Turkey Sticks
RXBARS
Larabars
I thought I’d add some fun WHOLE30 Approved Pumpkin products for fall!
I may make some pumpkin chia pudding for breakfast, so stay tuned on how that one turns out
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
Pumpkin Larabar
Pumpkin RXBAR
Whole30 Approved Pumpkin Spice
youtube video: what I ate in a day: whole30 diet
If you have any questions for me let me know!
- are you in?
- what are some of your questions about the WHOLE30
- have you ever completed a Whole30?
Jodi M says
looking forward to doing a whole30. I would like to see you do YouTube videos of whole30.
Taralynn McNitt says
Awesome!!
Kelly says
Hi Taralynn!
YEEEESSSS!!!!
I am so in! Can’t wait to start the Whole30 journey again with you!
Thanks for doing this and for sharing!
Kelly
Taralynn McNitt says
Wooooo!!!!
Jami says
I’m currently on day 17! This is my 3 rd time doing whole 30 in the last 4 years
I noticed you wanted to make some soups! I made an avagolemono soup today and subbed the rice with cauli rice OMG I can’t get enough of this soup and did it all in the instant pot!
Taralynn McNitt says
Hi, Jami!
You go girl! 😃
holy moly that sounds great! Which recipe did you use?
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Oh wow, I want to do this challenge too! Too bad I just had surgery so I can’t really eat anything apart from liquids… maybe I’ll make my own challenge a month later, haha! 😛
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Taralynn McNitt says
Stay focussed on recovering, girl! xo
Harriet says
Definitely joining in! I haven’t done a whole30 before, but I am extremely excited to, and to see what I learn from it. Can you eat red meat (beef) while doing the whole30?
Taralynn McNitt says
Hi, Harriet!
You can!
Check out this link to see what you can/can’t have!
https://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/
Shelby says
Do you think you could share some of the blogs or people you followed for inspiration as well?
Melissia says
I’m about 1/2 way through so excited to see you post some things I could use to make my last half a bit more interesting 🙂
Taralynn McNitt says
That’s awesome girl!
Hannah says
I always had whole30 compliant smoothies! Love that you’re including them as well.
Taralynn McNitt says
I only have them when I feel like I need a refreshing drink but I see no issue with it!
Kat says
Yess!!! Make a YouTube journey for this please!
Taralynn McNitt says
Will do!
Kristin says
I’m so excited to follow along! I like your approach of keeping meals simple and pretty much the same. I’ve never done Whole 30 so definitely interested in all your tips!
One question, not necessarily whole 30 related but in general for dinner do you and Kyle usually eat the same thing? If not is it tough to coordinate? I feel like right now dinner is already hectic and trying to make separate meals for me and my husband would be hard. So I guess my question is do you have any tips on eating differently than your partner?
Also I am thisclose to finally buying an air fryer!
Jess says
Doing it with you girl and would love to see YouTube videos too!
Taralynn McNitt says
WOOO! can’t wait, jess!
Zoe says
I’m so frustrated by the amount of added sugars in all kinds of products! I recently watched the Fed Up documentary and it also made me realize that people have NO IDEA what healthy eating looks like.
Not doing Whole 30, but I am trying harder to limit sugars. I love to bake and so many recipes have a ton of sugar, I like to experiment with “how low can it go” and still taste right. Lol
Taralynn McNitt says
I do the same baking style, Zoe! 😆
And you’re right. IT’S IN EVERYTHING!
Ashley S says
Hi Tara!
I’ve never done any restricted eating really, but I think this will help with my energy levels, so I am in! My husband is also joining me. We are excited to follow along!